Grade 6 Students' Conceptual Change About Solution Process

Abstract

     This research explored students' understanding of the different types of substance change. Twenty nine Grade 6 students (age 12-13 years old) from a primary school in rural area of Saraburi province were presented with a 15 item paper-and-pencil concept survey about substances and its properties, pre and post instruction. There are two parts of this concept survey: basic concept and the change of substances (change in state, solution process and chemical change). The items include open-ended questions and multiple choices with explanations. This paper presents the solution process only. Students' conceptions from the concept survey were analyzed and categorized. The classifications' criterion was adapted from Andersson's categorization (1990) and Tytler's categorization (2003). Results from the interpretation of students categories showed an increasing of students' conceptual change from alternative conception to scientific conception.